"Wait just a minute. Are you telling me that barbells-the equipment that everyone uses & has been around for over a century-is actually bad for you? Now, I know you must be out of your mind!"
If this is the thought that's going on in your head right now, you're not the only one who feels that way. Barbells have been so ingrained into our heads that it's the best way to get fit, no one has stopped to think, is it really?
When you felt that wrist twist after doing a set of of bicep curls, even when you were doing proper form, was your first thought 'Oh, it must be the barbell.' No, of course not. Your first thought was probably 'Oh my god, it hurts so much!'
The truth of the matter is barbells are not all what they're cracked up to be. Are they great for building muscle? Absolutely. But over here, we don't just focus on muscle. Why? Because it's not a great measure of determining your level of fitness. And when barbells come across other areas of fitness such as mobility, agility, & coordination, it's an absolute failure. Take a deep dive with me in finding out why barbells actually, truly suck!
Reason #1: Want progress? TOO BAD!
One of the top reasons you should ditch the barbell is progress, or a lack thereof. Fitness is meant to allow you to progress in your goals, otherwise what good is it. And there are some of you reading this saying to yourselves that, 'you can build muscle from the barbell! What are you talking about?'
Remember what I had said before? Muscle isn't everything, and just cause you see progress in one area, does not mean you're doing ok with the others. This includes areas such as speed, agility, balance, coordination, power, strength, stamina and the list goes on.
With the barbell, the only way to progress is to stack weights on the bar. That's all well and good, and yes, you'll feel like the Hulk. But here's the thing. The more weight you lift & the heavier it is, it puts the body under an extreme amount of stress. Not the good kind either.
Repeatedly lifting heavy weights crushes your joints & as you guessed it, that's pretty dangerous. Without releasing that tension around your joints, injuries will always occur.
Don't believe me? Take a look at all these professional powerlifters & bodybuilders. Most come out of the game early because they ignored the little pains & injuries that popped up every now & then, resulting in long term damage.
This is not progress. This is actually taking a step backward, and that means a delay in reaching your fitness goals. While the barbell is great for building muscle, to actually build fitness that lasts, kick that bar to the curb!
Reason #2: Moving in one place, going nowhere
What do we talk about at SuppCo? Functional fitness.
And what does functional fitness preach? Mobility. Mobility. Mobility
Being mobile in your fitness is the only way to make it work for you. Why? Because life is not stationary, you are always moving. You have to be able to adapt to the changes that it throws at you.
With the barbell this is not possible. The laws of physics state that you can only lift a barbell up & down. Not forwards or backwards. Not left or right. Believe me, if someone could I'd be really impressed.
But, the fact of the matter is that you grow through resistance & to achieve movement freedom, there has to be resistance (i.e. gravity) in all the states previously mentioned.
With training in one state of motion, you're seriously missing out some key benefits of the others, and it could lead to lack of strength. Now, I think we can all agree, that's not something we're too keen on seeing.
To add fuel to the fire, by training in one state, there will be imbalances in the body as a result since there's no resistance being applied anywhere else.
Everything will be out of proportion, making you feel more in pain. And that's not just not what we're about over here.
Reason #3: Overuse of the barbell (chill, bro)
Another reason why that barbell needs to go is because it's being used way too often. And we're not just talking about the bodybuilders over here, we're talking about everybody. People are more likely to pick up a barbell, than a kettlebell or a dumbbell for that matter, and that's just not ok. As we talked about before, the more the heavy loads are placed on that bar, the more your joints are being turned to mush.
This might not matter so much to the young guys who just want to look good. But you're in your late 20's & early 30's. You don't care about looking 'aesthetically symmetrical,' you care about feeling great without excessive injuries being applied.
What is recommended though, if you still have that close & personal relationship with the barbell, incorporate some kettlebell/dumbbell work with it as well. Ease yourself into completely getting rid of the barbell, and adopting this new way of life. It may be hard at first, but you know where to turn to when you need help :)
Reason #4: Not including active recovery
You've probably heard of active recovery from various athletes who say it's the best thing ever. And they're not wrong. Start listening to them!
When athletes lift heavy using the barbell, they usually tack on some sort of joint mobility exercise or active recovery exercise to go along with it.
To jog your memory, active recovery is a workout that is on the lower end of things in terms of intensity, but just high enough that it gets your blood pumping. This could include jogging, skipping, or even pushups.
This helps the muscles to repair itself & move in a much more natural way, countering the negative effects brought on by heavy barbell training. Start mixing a couple of these workouts inside your routine, and you can have your cake & eat it too.
Barbell workouts are not bad. How can they be? They're just a piece of equipment. In fact, you'll see in a lot of the programs we give out, we incorporate the use of barbells, but only for a short period of time. It's much better to use kettlebells or dumbbells to accomplish the goals you set out for yourself. You want to live in a body that lasts don't you? This is how it's done. By not using the barbell that often, you'll find a whole ton of benefits. A whole lot that's not even mentioned above.
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